7 Surefire Ways to Turn Your Failures Into Opportunities

Do you usually hang your head low in defeat when you’re face to face with failure? Most people do. However, there is a way to actually turn those failures around and use them as catalysts to success.

Follow these 7 tips and you’ll be able to turn your so-called failures into opportunities that you never even knew existed.

1. Don’t Avoid Failure Like the Plague

Although failure is not what we aim for in life, we should not avoid it in hopes of never having to deal with it. We learn and develop personally from failure. Avoiding this important learning tool will make it unlikely for you to enter into any new endeavors.

2. Take a Step Back

Don’t take failure personally. Yes, it is you who failed and I’m not advocating passing the blame for your failure on to someone else. However, it’s difficult to learn from something when our only perspective is subjective. Being objective about what went wrong and how you can fix the problem will make you all the more likely to try again.

3. Write Down the Steps

Let’s not assume that because the outcome was a failure then all the steps we took must have been wrong as well. If you really want to learn from your mistake, list the steps you took and examine each one to see where you went astray. After all, we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater!

4. Visualize The Successful Version

Okay, you know what the failure looks like because you’re standing right in the middle of it. What would the outcome have looked like if you had succeeded? Make sure you have a crystal clear vision of this success. Write down or draw the details if you have to.

5. Don’t Give in to Perfectionism

Is your failure really a failure or are you expecting perfect results? If you deem everything you try to be a failure because it isn’t perfect, then you’ll be closing many doors that could lead to exciting opportunities. Make sure you have actually failed before trying again.

6. Get Right Back on the Wagon

Don’t waste time bemoaning your mistakes or over-analyzing them. Be aware of the steps that lead to the failure, but don’t go over them with a fine-toothed comb. Quickly identify where you went wrong and try again before you have time to “over think.”

7. Take Responsibility

Although you want to remain objective when analyzing where you went wrong, you need to avoid passing the buck. Realizing that it is you who made the mistake, will more likely spur you into changing your strategies – getting you closer than ever to your goal.

Failure is a valuable stepping stool; learn from it and try again. And remember, if you want to grow personally (as most of us do ), you must see failure as the secret messenger that tells you what works and what doesn’t – just be aware that this “voice” is only a whisper; so you have to be listening to hear it.

If you have a failure that you remember leading to opportunities, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Let’s learn from each other!